EV schools chief's bond with son grew strong on the diamond

Jun. 21—Coaching his son Jacob has been part of Queen Creek Unified Superintendent Dr. Perry Berry's DNA for years.

Jacob Berry has the memories of countless coaching hours implanted in his DNA as well, recalling "the first memory I have of when I played catch with my dad was at our old, little house up in Page, Arizona when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old."

"The reason I remember it is because I broke the window," chuckled Jacob, a onetime Queen Creek High School and then college baseball standout.

Quipped his dad, whose district includes part of Mesa, "That's when I knew he could hit."

He also was a standout high school and college baseball player and toiled in the minor leagues for four seasons in the early 1990s before going into education.

But his son beat the odds in a big way last year, becoming a first-round draft pick of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins and the sixth player chosen in the 2022 MLB Draft — and earning a $6 million signing bonus.

At 21, Jacob is playing his first full season of professional baseball, working with the Beloit Sky Carp of the Midwest League in Wisconsin, the Marlins' High A affiliate.

A standout for Team USA, the University of Arizona, and Louisiana State, Jacob now competes with some of the best young talent in the world of baseball.

"It's a work in progress," Jacob said of his development as a pro ballplayer.

His dad is still his most trusted coach and mentor.

"It seems like every day from when I was a little kid, even now. I mean, he came out last week and threw me some batting practice. He is still the guy that I lean on the most with my hitting," Jacob said.

"When he was a high school principal back in Page, Arizona, I would bus over and wait in his office until he got off work, and we would go hit in the cages right outside of his work," Jacob said. "I don't even know how to explain how much he's meant to me and how much he's done for me."

His father added that before the family moved to Queen Creek, "It seems like we were always scrambling to find places to hit."

He was finally able to install a batting cage in his yard in his new home in Queen Creek.

"We were always going to fields and jumping over fences," he said.

Even last year, the father-son duo scrambled for playing space elsewhere.

"I found this buddy of mine that had a cage in an old Quonset hut out on his farm," Perry said, describing a trip to southwest Colorado last year with Jacob in tow.

Batting cages became an important component in this father-son relationship, Perry Berry said. Some of the best and worst conversations, as well as difficult moments, came during the countless hours of practice inside them.

"We had some of the biggest fights a dad and son can have in any place in a batting cage, and had some enjoyable talks, depending on the day and what's going on," the superintendent said.

"It's been a place where we can be alone and spend time together and work on something while spending quality time together."

There had to be plenty of good times to make up for an especially bad incident when one of the old man's errant batting practice pitches got away from him and hit Jacob in the face.

"Jacob, didn't I break your nose?" Berry asked?

"I don't know. I've broken my nose a few times," Jacob responded.

His father added, "He turned away but didn't turn away enough and I think it clipped his nose and came home and he had a bloody nose. His nose was all swollen.

"Lana was all mad, Perry said of Jacob's mom's reaction to the mishap. "I think that is a moment I'd like to forget."

Jacob would not. "They are all good stories and things we look back on," he said.

While most dads are familiar with rushing to early morning games and evening practices, Perry and 8-year-old Jacob traveled six hours each way from Page to the Valley so Jacob could play with a club baseball team on the weekends.

"We would get up at 3 or 4 in the morning...and hustled down to the game," dad said. "He'd sleep all the way there. I would get him out, get him loose, and then he would go out with his team. Then we would stay at my buddy's.

"He had an extra room that was like an office and had a foldaway bed and Jacob and I would stay in there. And then we would get done with the games on Sunday and drive back to Page."

Those long drives home could go either way, depending on how Jacob did in the games.

"A lot of good car rides and a lot of bad car rides," Jacob remembers. "Baseball is a game of failure. So, there are some obviously good learning lessons and some hard, hard conversations."

Jacob said those rides helped shape him as a person and as a player, explaining, "I learned that I'm never as good or as bad as I think I am."

Jacob probably did not realize it at the time, but the lessons were going both ways.

The 6-hour drives gave his father time to reflect on not only what he was teaching his son but on what he was learning as a dad.

"I learned that setbacks and struggles can create good opportunities ... to foster discussions about motivation and work ethic," the elder Berry said.

It is a lesson he has taken to heart while raising his other three kids, all of whom are also athletes.

Daughter Jade is a high school senior and committed to run track at Stanford. Daughter Jenae is a junior who plays softball and son Jet plays baseball and football.

"I learned that it is important to seek God's wisdom and grace in my role as a dad, and I was reminded that spending time with the kids no matter what the situation, is valuable time to talk about things that really matter and to get to know Jacob."

Despite the long drives and his good play, Jacob could not land a place on a club team.

"He would hit the ball well on the weekends and then the coach would cut him because we couldn't make the practices during the week," dad explained. "The parents and everybody would get mad because he wasn't there for practices.

"We couldn't find a team. He would play for a team, do well and they would cut him. Play for another team and they would cut him. It got frustrating."

Finally, Jacob did find a home with the Sandlot Club Team in the Valley, whose coaches told Jacob's father that if he was willing to drive that far every weekend, Jacob was welcome on their team.

Those long car drives also have prepared Jacob for grueling minor league bus rides.

As a professional player, Jacob Berry will continue to use the lessons his dad taught him in tee-ball, the batting cages, the long car rides, and in the Quonset hut to keep The Dream alive.

"During the bus rides I look back on all the times I spent with my parents and realize how fortunate I am," Jacob said.

With his son now a professional athlete and their time spent together diminished, Perry Berry reflected on the bond the two made over countless hours of practice and car rides.

"It went by so fast," he said. "At the time it was occurring you think it's never going to end but now looking back I wish I could go back in time and appreciate it a little more as a parent, the little things.

"The car rides. In the spirit of Father's Day, I think it's important to remember that things go by so fast and to spend good, quality time."